


Welcome to the Hotel Catifornia

by ladyfeather



Series: Fills to Prompts/Memes [7]
Category: Finder no Hyouteki | Finder Series
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-12
Updated: 2017-02-12
Packaged: 2018-09-23 16:30:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9665570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladyfeather/pseuds/ladyfeather
Summary: This story is my explanation for the beautiful illustration Yamane Ayano posted for Feilong Liu's birthday.





	

  
 

artwork is linked to Yamane Ayano's site.

* * *

 

Fei Long was having a very bad day. No, make that a bad week. It had been one catastrophe after another. It was just getting dark and once again one of the more insistent rival gangs was stirring up trouble in one of Fei's more stable areas. They were a two-bit operation and in well over their heads in this endeavor. Several of the business owners had called and given thorough accounts of the attacks. The latest information he received was that they were still in the area so he called Yoh.

Fei sat at his desk, drumming his fingers on the desktop, and impatiently waiting for Yoh to arrive. He took longer than he expected and Fei hoped it wasn't another bad sign. Yoh entered quickly, bowed, and then took the seat offered by Fei. He looked quite weary; evidently he had been dealing with this fiasco since it started.

"I've sent some of our men to the area to help the businessmen and perhaps catch some of the rival triad members. The reports coming in say that there are a few moderate level members with the attacking group, but none of the main leaders. I only sent in a few reconnaissance men so we are currently outnumbered but I have additional people heading to the scene right now. They should be there soon." Yoh gave a quick glance at his phone; it was set to vibrate so as not to bother them while they discussed the dilemma. "They just hit another store," said Yoh as he slowly shook his head. As usual the police were nowhere to be found - they knew it was triad business and it would be settled by triad rules. Yoh truly wondered why Fei even bothered paying them.

Fei stood up and motioned Yoh to follow. He'd had enough of this and he would go down there and straighten out a few of those punks. He took his weapon and holster from the safe and strapped it on. Luckily he hadn't been lounging in his changshan; it was rather difficult to hide the weapon wearing those clothes. While he finished adjusting the straps he motioned for Yoh to fetch the car. They were going hunting.

Yoh nodded and left the room, quickly dialing and barking orders to whoever was on the other end. With Fei entering the area he would need additional security. He knew he couldn't convince him not to go; this was his profession, as ruler of the largest triad in Hong Kong and the surrounding areas.

The ride to the area was tense; Yoh was constantly answering the phone. He now had reports of injuries to some of the shop owners and had to arrange medical assistance for them. With every incident he heard Fei got angrier.

They drove past a group of rival triad members who seemed to realize who was in the car. Fei knew he should have had Yoh use something other than the limousine but Yoh refused to allow Fei to go along without a secure vehicle. But he couldn't blame him - it was the only vehicle that was functional and fully bulletproof. The other two armored vehicles were being repaired having seen action during an attempted drug heist just a few days ago.

They were to gather with the men already on the scene in one of the previously vandalized stores. They had estimated the size of the rival group and where they were currently located. The information concurred with the group that they had passed coming in. The rough plans they had put together were approved by Yoh and Fei, and everyone set about the tasks they were assigned. Fei wanted whoever was leading this group for himself; this was a personal affront.

Fei's troops were well trained and in no time had rounded up the rival gang members. Several had been injured but none had been killed, so far. From the look in Fei's eyes that wouldn't hold true for very long. He had a warehouse just waiting to be filled with screaming victims.

After a few hours of fun at the warehouse Fei decided it was time to wrap things up and send a message to the leader of this so-called gang. The head of the one who had led this assault was placed in a box and was to be delivered as Fei's reply to the attack.

As the cleanup began Fei turned to leave, following Yoh back to the limousine. But Fei did not notice the large black cat run from the shadows and out in front of him. He proceeded to sharply twist his ankle and fall very ungracefully to the concrete floor in an attempt to avoid tripping over the feline. He wasn't sure due to the pain, but it looked and sounded as if the cat had looked directly at him and replied, "I'm sorry. we'll take care of you." right before he passed out.

#=#=#=#=#

Fei was just starting to wake up. He didn't know where he was; the bed was too soft to be his. It felt like a large fluffy pillow rather than a mattress. The pain in his ankle was slowly making its presence felt as was the bump on the side of his head. Fei flipped his arm over his head and bolted awake. Sitting up he ran his hand over his head once again. Yes, there was something in his hair, and it seemed to be attached to him. He could feel that whatever was in his hair was furry, but unbelievably he could also feel the touch of his fingers on whatever this was. In shock he put both his hands on his head and discovered that there were actually two items now in his hair, and without being able to look they felt disbelievingly like ears.

Furry ears. Short, pointy, furry ears. Like cat ears.

Fei was not one to normally panic but the thought of having fuzzy ears on his head was pushing the envelope. As he tossed the blanket off his body he received another blinding shock. A long black furry item was sticking out from under him, and it looked suspiciously like a tail. Afraid to touch it but with his curiosity goading him on he haltingly ran a finger across it. It was soft and furry just like whatever was on his head. And he could feel the touch both ways; through this... this... whatever this is. It too appeared to be attached to him, but he didn't want to believe that it was a tail anymore than he wanted to believe he had short, pointy, furry ears on his head.

Panic set in, full force. He didn't know what to do. He thought that it had to be a dream; things like this didn't happen. His breathing was erratic as was his heartbeat. What was going on? When would he wake up from this nightmare? And he realized that there was a ringing sound in his ears.

A cheerful voice disrupted his frenzy.

"Ah, you're awake. Welcome to the world of the living. We were afraid that you were going to sleep forever."

Standing in the doorway with his arms crossed was a tall human who looked to be of Japanese nationality, dressed in black slacks, a white dress shirt with the collar undone, and a pink apron.

Fei tried to move away, trying to scoot backwards on this pillow-like mattress, but it was impossible due to the softness. And his ankle wouldn't let him move his leg the way he wanted to. A searing pain shot up his leg as he attempted to use it to push himself backwards. A glance down revealed his left ankle wrapped in a pink bandage that was tied in a bow.

He gave up trying to move as he pulled the covers up to his chin and shouted, "Stay away! You're a nightmare - you're not real!" But Fei realized he was helpless in this situation. There was nothing he could do to end this other than wake up. And that didn't seem like it was going to happen any time soon.

And the ringing started again. Moving one hand away from the soft blanket he felt something around his neck, and it jingled. It was a bell! He had a bell tied around his neck and he realized that there were also ribbon bracelets on his wrists. Tears were starting to accumulate in his eyes. He had to wake up: this was seriously wrong. And where was Yoh?

The strange man spoke again. "Don't be afraid kitty. Or should I call you Fei? We were told that is your name. You're probably hungry so I'll go get you something to eat. I'll send Akihito in to keep you entertained. He's been waiting rather impatiently for you to wake up. It's not often we have such illustrious company."

Confusion rapidly took over. Kitty? I'm a kitty? He lifted the covers and looked at the 'now tentatively identified as a tail' item. He cautiously tugged it and felt the pull on his lower spine. A further examination of his position revealed that he was, indeed, positioned at the center of a very large pillow, about a meter deep and 2 meters in diameter. The tears couldn't be contained any longer as he flopped backwards and buried his face in soft folds of the pillow bed. Either he was in the middle of a horrendous nightmare or he had gone totally and completely mad.

His imminent breakdown was interrupted by another voice, this one seemed younger from the tone. He raised his head to see another human-shaped form, smaller than the last, standing in the doorway. But this one had small pointed ears sprouting from his golden hair and a tail that matched the honey-colored ears.

_Is that what I look like?_

The newcomer was quickly advancing on him; this must be the Akihito the human was talking about. At first glance he looked human except for the ears and tail. In his hand he carried a short wand with a feather attached to the end, which he was waving in the air and pointed directly toward him.

"Hi! I'm Akihito. Wanna play? This is my favorite toy."

_What is he doing? Am I supposed to be impressed by that? What does he mean, play?_

Suddenly Fei trembled. He was mesmerized by the waving feather, wanting to grasp it and his ears and tail began to twitch. His hand uncontrollably reached out toward the teasing feather. He closed his eyes , shook his head, and tried to pull back his hand. He was not a cat; he didn't want to chase that tempting distraction. Or did he?

Once again he opened his eyes, but this time his body tried to go for the moving treat. As soon as his left foot hit the ground he let out a pained cry; he had forgotten the fact that he was wounded.

The human-cat creature suddenly looked distraught by the fact he had caused this new kitty pain. Dropping the wand he ran to kneel beside Fei, his hands gently taking the wounded ankle and carefully massaging the area.

"I'm sorry! So sorry! I didn't mean to cause you pain - I just wanted to play. It's been so long since we've had an outsider visitor...." His hands continued to massage the sprain, hoping to nullify the pain he had caused.

Fei looked down at this strange creature. He actually looked like he was about to cry. Everything that had happened since he had awoken was getting to be too much for Fei. As hard as he tried he could not understand what was happening.

Trying to soothe the young human-cat he softly whispered, "It's all right. I'll be fine in a few minutes, once the pain subsides. But where am I? And more importantly, why am I part cat? I know that I'm a human, just like the older man who was just in here."

And in a whispered voice he asked, of no one in particular, "Did I fall down a rabbit hole somewhere?"

The youngster looked up and cocked his head in confusion. "Older man? Oh, do you mean Asami? He's part of our family - sort of like our leader. He's a cat hybrid too; he's just able to control his physical appearance. Only the strongest can do that."

Fei was about to ask a few more questions when his stomach voiced its displeasure at not having any food in it. Akihito giggled, stating that after sleeping for a full day it was no wonder his stomach was growling.

Asami walked through the doorway at that moment with a tray holding what looked like a cat food bowl with Fei's name on it. Anger warred with the hunger that was quickly taking over. Despite how good the seafood in the bowl smelled it looked like CAT FOOD! But once again instinct took over and he couldn't wait to partake of the food.

Asami set the bowl down beside Fei and sat on the floor right beside the huge pillow. Carefully selecting a choice piece of seafood he offered it to Fei.

Fei was still deciding if he really wanted to eat the food but the smell was getting unbearable; his mouth opened on its own accord. His eyes closed as he chewed the heavenly morsel - it was Gui Fa Yue, or ghost flower fish, a favorite in the Hong Kong area and a personal one of Fei's. Before he realized it he had eaten most of what had been in the bowl; he had managed to sneak a few pieces from the bowl on his own.

Asami smirked when he saw how Fei reacted to the fact that he had been hand-fed his dinner. "Would you like to clean up a bit? We can remove the bandage and help you into the bath if you like."

His hunger abated, Fei decided that it was time for some questions, and hopefully some answers that made more sense than he could reason out of this current predicament. And they came at rapid fire speed.

"Is this all a dream? Who are you? How did I get injured? Why am I here - is this a medical center? How do you know my name, and why do we speak the same language? You have a bit of an accent but I can understand you perfectly. Why do I have ears and a tail? How can I get back home, and where IS here? How did I...."

Asami put a finger to Fei's lips to silence him. "All in good time. Let's get you to the bath to clean up; you've been asleep for over 24 hours and I'm sure there are a few things you need to take care of. We can talk once you are refreshed."

As if on cue Akihito returned to the room having left while Asami was feeding Fei. He held a beautifully carved walking stick in his hands and offered it to Fei.

"You can use this to help getting around, both in the bath and around the premises. There is a seat in the shower so you don't have to stand."

Once the bandage had been removed Fei offered no resistance as the two assisted him to stand. He carefully followed Akihito as he pointed out the way to the bathroom. Asami held him around the waist to alleviate some of the weight on his sore ankle. With the bandage off he could see how terribly bruised and swollen it was. The bruising was extensive, extending both above the ankle and below to the arch of his foot.

After leaving a pile of clean clothes on the dressing bench Asami left him in the bathroom with instructions to call out if he needed any assistance. Akihito had left several bottles of various toiletries with the towels for his use before scooting out with Asami.

Fei moved slowly to the sink. He wanted to see if there really were cat ears on his head. Leaning his body against the sink base he raised his trembling hands slowly to touch the pink-lined velvety black triangles that protruded from his hair. They twitched when he first touched them, and quickly found out that he could move them a bit. For several minutes he stared at his reflection, shocked that there were really two cat ears now sharing space with his long ebony locks.

Using the cane to maneuver back to the shower area he started the water flow. He seated himself on the chair by the shower, finding it a bit difficult to take into account the tail. He managed to sit sideways and move it to drape over the opposite side of the seat and removed his clothing. Using the walking stick he managed to enter the shower stall. Standing on one leg he was met with another problem.

The angle of the water was aimed in such a direction that it entered his cat ears. It was quite an unpleasant feeling and while shaking his head he tried to hastily turn away from the spray. But the fast turn caused him to lose his balance. and in an attempt to compensate he put weight on his left leg. That was definitely a bad idea. His accompanying scream brought both Asami and Akihito into the room where they found him hunched over, his right knee on the bench, and braced against the wall to keep from falling.

Ignoring the fact that he was fully dressed Asami grabbed Fei by the waist and aided him to regain his balance. Once he saw that he had his equilibrium he helped him sit on the shower bench. Asami was soaked to the skin.

"I'll get you clean; you just sit here and relax." Looking at Fei's hair he realized what had probably happened. "I'll start with your hair and I'll keep the water out of your ears. That's the tricky part of having cat ears." Turning around he switched the water flow from the main showerhead to the handheld one.

Akihito saw that the emergency was taken care of and left to find a dry set of clothes for Asami.

Fei had to admit having someone wash his hair really felt good. He closed his eyes and soaked in the comforting feel of Asami's fingers massaging his scalp. A wave of pleasure shot through him as Asami slowly massaged his newly sprouted ears. The feeling was so intense he didn't want Asami to stop. It bordered on sexual satisfaction.

Realizing what he was thinking he opened his eyes and tried to move away. All he needed to do now was to get excited from someone playing with his ears. He looked at the smirk on Asami's face and immediately knew that he had done that on purpose. That ignited his anger.

"I think I can handle things from here. I thought that I could handle standing up but didn't account for the new additions to my scalp." He snatched up the shower spray and started to rinse his hair, carefully going around the ears and ignoring the other body in the shower with him.

Asami nodded and left the stall, but not before he gave Fei's ears another touch. Akihito had come in with a dry set of clothes and Asami began to strip. Fei couldn't help but notice that as he dried himself both his tail and his ears appeared. Asami had an almost perfect body, and the addition of the tail added an intimate allure to the human-cat. He quickly turned his attention to finishing his shower. He didn't need to be caught visually groping the man-cat's body. By the time Asami went to leave the bathroom the ears and tail were nowhere to be seen.

Now alone he finished cleaning up a bit more carefully than before and successfully managed to get dressed. The clothes they had left were definitely made for someone with a tail. They were exactly like the clothes he had been wearing when he entered the bathroom. The pull-up styled pants had an opening in the back where the tail could exit without stress. There was a closure at the waist that overlapped and kept the area covered modestly. The top was much the same; a slit at the back to allow the tail freedom. It resembled a short kimono. Both pieces were made of silk and more resembled a fine set of pajamas rather than everyday wear.

Fully dressed he remained sitting in the chair, relaxing after the exertion of dressing and allowing his head to rest against the tiled wall. His mind was still reeling with all that had happened. How did he get hurt? He vaguely remembered going out to check on a rival gang invading his territory. His people had managed to stop the attack and they had just finished tying up the loose ends at the warehouse. As he was leaving... a cat - a black cat - ran in front of him and he stumbled and fell trying to avoid it.

Then he remembered - the cat actually spoke, it had apologized! He hadn't imagined it. Is this the help he offered?

And how was he to get back to his own existence, or was he destined to remain a human-cat for the rest of his life? That thought depressed him. Now that his memories were clearer he realized that he missed those that were always around him. Tao. What was he doing right now? And Yoh. He realized that he missed him in completely different way. What wouldn't he give to have him by his side right now.

A soft knock on the door broke him from his reverie, and a sad voice spoke. "Are you all right? You've been in there for a long time. Do you need help with something?" It was Akihito, and he really did sound concerned.

"No, I'm fine, just taking my time getting dressed. I'm coming out now." Fei slowly stood and carefully made his way to the door. The warm water had eased a bit of the pain from the ankle making it slightly easier to move around. As he opened the door Akihito stepped back, worry very evident. He had the saddest eyes and his ears were folded to the sides; he looked so pathetic that Fei almost laughed.

He reached out and fluffed Akihito's hair, hoping to cheer him up a bit. "I was just thinking about the situation I'm in right now. I'm having a very hard time believing any of this. Can you understand that?"

The touch had done the trick and Akihito's eyes brightened, his ears perked up as well as the tail, and the brilliant smile once again dominated his face. He nodded and motioned for Fei to sit on the bed. He had a fresh pink bandage in his hands to wrap Fei's ankle.

As he sat on the pillow bed he finally got a good look at the room while Akihito worked on his ankle. Except for the huge pillow for a bed it looked much like a bedroom; a carpeted floor, a mirrored dresser, a chaise lounge under the one window, floor length curtains, and pictures on the walls. He supposed that probably there were people who indulged in such things as pillow beds in his world.

His world. He needed to get back. He needed an explanation of what happened, and he needed to know how to undo it.

Akihito had finished bandaging his ankle, and looking down he saw that once again it had been finished with a bow. He wondered if that was the norm for bandages in this world or if it was just something that Akihito did. It looked rather silly.

"Would you like to go talk with Asami now? You had a bunch of questions and he's willing to talk with you now. I think you can walk to the elevator; he's waiting for you in the hotel lounge."

They took the elevator down to the main floor. The ride confirmed that he was indeed in a some sort of luxury hotel. Several stops on the way allowed others to enter or leave the elevator. Some looked like Akihito with visible ears and tails while others were like Asami.

Once they had gotten to the main floor Akihito steered him toward the lobby that was quite close by. Asami was seated near the entrance, making a short walk for Fei, which he was grateful for. The new bandage had helped but the extra movement had caused a dull ache to spread up his leg.

Taking the offered seat Fei wasted no time in firing off the questions. "Where am I? Who are you people? How do I get out of here?"

"You are in Catifornia, and we are a race of human-cats. Our universe runs parallel to yours but on occasion the two do touch. Which is what happened and caused you to be brought here."

Fei absorbed the statements. "So the cat I tripped over was one of you? Do you interfere with our world often?"

Asami shook his head. "No, we avoid contact with your aggressive race. You are a bit too violent for us to associate with. We human-cats are neither good nor evil, much like the felines in your world. To be sure we all have our differences but on the whole we are neutral. We don't place labels on each other. Sometimes we find it necessary to travel to your world, but it is extremely rare that it happens. The human-cat that caused your injury was heading back when the accident happened. We hold ourselves responsible for any adverse actions in your world, thus you were brought here to recover."

Fei listened in interest. Then there was a way back. "When can I go back? Once my ankle is healed?"

Asami smirked. "Ah, my dear Fei, welcome to the Hotel Catifornia. You can check out any time you want..."

Fei breathed a sigh of relief. "Then tell me how to...."

"...but you can never leave. You were injured due to interference of one of our kind. You will stay here under our care. Forever."

Hearing that statement Fei felt the anger rising in him, but there was something else, a more instinctual reaction, that was causing him to feel deep concern - even fear. There had to be a way out. "No! I've got to leave. I have a life outside this universe, people who rely on me for their well-being, people who are very dear to me." He wanted to flee but knew his ankle wouldn't take any kind of abuse like that. "I'll find a way out!" He stood and turned, heading out of the lounge to find a door when the ground shook.

"Earthquake!" came the cries of several nearby human-cats. Suddenly there were many human-cats in the area, all frantically headed towards the doors and outside for safety from the damage the earthquake was about to unleash. He felt the urge in himself too, instinctively wanting to get away from the rumbling ground under his feet.

As he stood on the swaying ground he realized that he could never make it to the doors fast enough. Pieces of the walls and ceiling were already starting to fall; furniture was toppling, adding to the destruction. The ground movement was putting strain on his ankle, causing the pain to radiate up his leg. Asami tried to help him stay standing but it was futile. One large crash finally knocked him off his feet. He felt a piece of the wall drop onto his back and slowly his consciousness faded.

#=#=#=#=#

The haze that filled his mind was starting to clear. Pain was beginning to register in his head and his one ankle. He had been re-injured during the earthquake! One hand slowly moved toward his temple and was met with a bandage. He moved his fingers to feel the extent of the bandaging and realized that there were no longer any cat ears on his head. The other hand quickly joined the first to confirm that the ears had disappeared. He slowly opened his eyes to see that he was in his own bedroom. A long sigh of relief was quickly followed by tears. He was free from the world of the human-cats.

Two voices in harmony called his name; he recognized them as Tao and Yoh. He turned his head to see them both beside the bed, looking worriedly at him; Tao was crying.

Yoh spoke in an emotional voice. "You're back. We were so worried. You've been unconscious for hours. The doctor said you would be fine but that didn't stop us from being concerned."

Fei called for Tao to come closer and when he did he placed a kiss on his forehead.

"I'm back, stop crying. I'll be all right, I just took a bad fall." Tao's tears didn't stop but a least a smile brightened his face.

"How about you go make me some tea? I think I could use some right now. OK?"

The tears had now abated and with a gleeful nod Tao ran off to brew a pot of Fei's favorite tea. He'd add a special treat for him to consume with it. Maybe he'd ask the kitchen for a lunch platter of Gui Fa Yue, Fei's favorite fish treat.

Fei turned to look at Yoh, who looked even more concerned than Tao.

Taking Fei's hand in his he squeezed it tightly. "I thought you would never wake up. This isn't the way I planned to celebrate your birthday. And what was going through your mind while you were unconscious? You looked so afraid, dangerously terrified even. It looked to be more than a reaction to the pain."

Fei grimaced. "I was having the most horrendous nightmare I ever had. I'm so glad to be back. Never visit the Hotel Catifornia; trust me. It's a place you never want to be."

Yoh looked confused but brushed off the comment as a side effect of the head injury. "When you get better I'll let you choose the hotel where we will celebrate your birthday, all right?"

Unable to resist any longer he leaned over the fallen triad leader and gave him a very emotional kiss.

With a whispered breath he stated, "Don't scare me like that ever again."

Fei placed on arm around Yoh's neck and pulled him down for a repeat performance.

"I don't intent to, and it never was my intention in the first place."

"Glad to hear that. Happy birthday Fei. I love you."

 

**Author's Note:**

> It is confirmed knowledge that some animals can predict the occurrence of earthquakes, just not with any regularity that can be used for accurate predictions. That is the feeling that Fei experienced just before the quake.
> 
> Hope you liked the story; I had fun visualizing and writing it.


End file.
